today president bashar al assad's forces are claiming they attacked several rebel operations in the eastern city. meantime, russia's top diplomat and international envoy to syria met in mosquito. they're calling for a -- in moscow. they're calling for a syrian-elderly transition and warning the conflict is becoming more medicilitarized and sectar. >> the conflict is not only more and more militarized, it is also more and more sectarian. and if we are not careful, if the syrians themselves are not careful, it will be a mainly sectarian conflict with really dire consequences for the people of syria. >> moscow has opposed efforts by the u.n. security council to oust the syrian president, a long-time ally. >>> one of the effects as the fiscal cliff gets closer. the hardline tea party is having a harder time holding the line on an absolute pledge not to raise taxes. copd makes it hard to breathe, but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can be in the scene. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-i